Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that there are city centre satelite testing facilities in York for health and care staff who cannot drive to the testing facility at the park and ride located outside the city centre.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We have introduced satellite sites as both to expand overall test capacity and to provide a more agile and flexible method to complement the fixed regional testing centres. For those without access to their own vehicle, home testing enables people to get tested for COVID-19 without leaving their home.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure parity between care homes and the NHS in the practice of testing for covid-19.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Social care settings and the National Health Service are priority areas for testing under the Government’s Testing Programme. We are seeking to understand the specific contexts of each setting through studies such as Vivaldi2 in care homes and SIREN within the NHS to ensure the measures made available to each are appropriate and effective, in line with the scientific and clinical advice.

Coronavirus: Older People

Mike Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that elderly people who do not have access to new technologies to sign up online can access testing facilities.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Tests can be booked by calling 119 in England and Wales or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland and Northern Ireland from any telephone.

Coronavirus: Screening

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 home testing kits were posted on (a) 29 April 2020, (b) 30 April 2020, (c) 1 May 2020 and (d) 4 May 2020; how many of those testing kits posted on each of those days has (i) been received back and (ii) successfully produced a test result; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 12 May 2020



We do not hold data in this format.

Coronavirus: Screening

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the (a) per unit cost of covid-19 home testing kits from dispatch to test result and (b) rate of return of those kits.

Ms Nadine Dorries: This is commercially sensitive information. As such, the Department is unable to release the information requested.

Coronavirus: Screening

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 tests have been wasted every day as a result of breakages in transit.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 18 May 2020



We do not hold data in this format.

Coronavirus: Screening

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the (a) Association of Clinical Biochemistry and (b) Institute of Biomedical Science on scaling up testing for covid-19.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Secretary of State has held no discussions with the Association of Clinical Biochemistry or the Institute of Biomedical Science. Whilst this may be the case, he and the Department are grateful to these organisations and their members for their assistance in tackling COVID-19.

Coronavirus: Screening

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what arrangements he has made for people aged over 65 years old, and without internet connected devices, to access covid-19 tests.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Tests can be booked by calling 119 in England and Wales or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland and Northern Ireland from any telephone.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long it is taking for covid-19 test results to be processed and returned from the home testing kits in the York postcode area.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not hold data in this format.

Coronavirus: Liverpool

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the capacity for the number of swab tests is at each satellite testing centre for covid-19 in the Liverpool City Region area.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 18 May 2020



We do not publish data broken down by test site.

Coronavirus: Screening

John Lamont: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for each of the (a) five Regional Testing Centres and (b) 13 Mobile Testing Units in Scotland, (i) on what date each site opened, (ii) what the daily testing capacity is, (iii) the number of tests that have been carried out on each day since the site opened, (iv) the average number of tests carried out per day since the site opened and (v) the total number of tests carried out to date.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not publish data in this format.

Coronavirus: Screening

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many laboratories in the UK support the testing of returned covid-19 home testing kits.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 18 May 2020



We currently have four laboratories in the United Kingdom supporting the returning of all types of testing, including home testing.

Coronavirus: Older People

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to enable people aged over 65 years old that do not have access to the internet to order home testing kits.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Tests can be booked by calling 119 in England and Wales or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland and Northern Ireland from any telephone.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the eligibility for covid-19 testing to be available to (a) staff and (b) patients of care facilities that are not Care Quality Commission registered settings.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We will shortly be writing to Directors of Public Health to ask them to help us determine which Extra Care and Supported Living adult social care settings, including those that may not be Care Quality Commission registered, meet certain risk-based criteria and therefore should be eligible for initial round of asymptomatic testing.All care workers with symptoms should be self-isolating and can access testing through the self-referral or employer-referral portal. Our approach to testing asymptomatic care staff is based on evidence regarding prevalence and risks and clinical guidance, rather than a blanket approach.

Coronavirus: Screening

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria a person needs to meet in order to book a covid-19 test.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 08 June 2020



We have now made testing available to all symptomatic people across the whole of the United Kingdom. Most common symptoms include a new continuous cough, high temperature and a loss of, or change to, your sense of smell or taste. Anyone who suffers from these symptoms is eligible for a test.

Coronavirus: Screening

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether an email address is a pre-requisite for booking a covid-19 test.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 08 June 2020



Tests can be booked by calling 119 in England and Wales or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland and Northern Ireland from any telephone.

Coronavirus: Screening

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is offering to people without access to the internet to book covid-19 tests.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 08 June 2020



Tests can be booked by calling 119 in England and Wales or 0300 303 2713 in Scotland and Northern Ireland from any telephone.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has plans to expand the access to those eligible for coronavirus testing to include people shielding who are without symptoms.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Testing is a vital part of the United Kingdom’s response to COVID-19 and we have made testing available to all symptomatic people across the UK. We are only testing asymptomatic people under a range of specific circumstances, but this does not currently include those who are shielding.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care settings have applied for covid-19 tests through the gov.uk online portal; and how many of those tests have been completed in England, broken down by county.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 10 June 2020



We do not hold data in this format.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care settings have applied for covid-19 tests through the gov.uk online portal in (a) the North West, (b) Liverpool City Region, (c) Wirral, (d) Wallasey, (e) the South East and (f) London.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 11 June 2020



We do not hold data in this format.

Coronavirus: Kingston Upon Hull

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the maximum number of covid-19 tests that can be completed per day by mobile covid-19 testing units in Hull.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not publish data by individual mobile testing units. All our mobile testing units currently have the capacity to process up to 500 tests a day.

Coronavirus: Kingston Upon Hull

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 tests have been completed per day in Hull by covid-19 mobile testing units.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not publish data by individual mobile testing units. We publish data in relation to COVID-19 testing on a daily basis. This can be found at GOV.UK.

Coronavirus: Kingston Upon Hull

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale is for the return of covid-19 test results for patients tested for covid-19 by mobile testing units based in Hull, as of 9 June 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not publish data by individual mobile testing units. As at the end of July, test turnaround times are consistent with the rest of the programme with over 97% of tests being returned within 48 hours. Results surrounding turnaround times are published weekly on GOV.UK.

Coronavirus: Wallasey

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the maximum number of covid-19 tests is that can be completed per day by mobile covid-19 testing units in Wallasey.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 15 June 2020



We do not publish data by individual mobile testing units. All our mobile testing units currently have the capacity to process up to 500 tests a day.

Coronavirus: Wirral

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many positive covid-19 test results have been recorded from tests completed by mobile testing units based in (a) Wirral and (b) Wallasey.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 15 June 2020



We do not publish data by individual mobile testing units.

Quarantine: Human Rights

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the human rights implications of introducing a 14 day quarantine period for UK and EU citizens arriving in the UK.

Ms Nadine Dorries: On 8 June new rules for international travellers were introduced in order to reduce the risk of new COVID-19 cases from abroad.A legal Memorandum on Compatibility with the European Convention of Human Rights and EU Charter was completed for the regulations, which fall under The Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984. The analysis considered that the self isolation measure is a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate public health aims of the policy to control and reduce the domestic incidence of COVID-19.The regulations remain under constant review to ensure that the border measures remain balanced, measured and proportionate to the public health response.

Coronavirus: Israel

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the effectiveness of contact-free covid-19 testing booths.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department is regularly in discussions with other countries on a wide range of issues relating to COVID-19. This includes Israel, but this particular proposal is not an issue that has been raised during discussions between our nations. We are keen to learn from examples of best practice wherever they exist and the Department will continue to work with other countries throughout the crisis and beyond.

Deloitte: Coronavirus

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2020 to Question 48980 on Deloitte: Coronavirus, to whom Deloitte is required to report positive cases of covid-19; and within what timeframe those positive cases are required to be so reported.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 25 June 2020



Deloitte is contracted to provide professional services support to the Department and the National Testing Programme. Deloitte’s role has included setting up testing facilities; coordinating the set-up of home and satellite delivery channels; and designing the digital platform that enables people to book a test and register their kit. Deloitte makes this digital information available to the National Pathology Exchange.Once results are generated in the labs, the results information also flows to the National Pathology Exchange where the result is matched to the individual’s demographic information. These results are passed to Public Health England every 30 minutes through a data flow. As such, Deloitte does not have a role in the generation of results or the handling of positive case data.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many drive through covid-19 tests have been carried out in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) England in each month since 23 March 2020; and how many of those tests had results generated within the 48-hour target.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 25 June 2020



We do not publish data by region. All information surrounding turnaround times are released weekly on GOV.UK.

Disability: Coronavirus

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that patients who are blind and deaf can access a covid-19 test.

Ms Nadine Dorries: All test centres are supported by the 119 call centre, which uses Language Line interpreter service. A person can be connected to the call centre at a test centre where a Language Line interpreter can then facilitate any issues.The 119 call centre is also supported by BSL Health Access. A British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter relays information over a video telephone call between a BSL user and the hearing person receiving or making the call. The Department, in collaboration with the Royal National Institute of Blind People, is currently undertaking pilots that aim to better understand the testing requirements for people with visual impairments and how we can accommodate their testing needs. The findings from these pilots will be used to improve the end-to-end user experience, from booking through to taking a test and receiving a result.

Coronavirus: Screening

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer on 25 June 2020 to Question 53611 on Coronavirus: Screening, if he will publish the increasingly broad range of international peer-reviewed evidence that demonstrate the effectiveness of self-swabbing for covid-19.

Ms Nadine Dorries: International peer reviewed evidence, and real-world assessments from the Department’s testing programme has shown that swab tests taken by non-clinically trained individuals are just as effective as those taken by clinicians. A notable example would be ‘Self-sampling for community respiratory illness: a new tool for national virological surveillance’ by Elliot et al (2015).

Coronavirus: Screening

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2020 to Question 53610 on Coronavirus: Screening, if he will publish the evidence that his Department reviewed on the effectiveness of self-swabbing covid-19 testing.

Ms Nadine Dorries: International peer reviewed evidence, and real-world assessments from the Department’s testing programme has shown that swab tests taken by non-clinically trained individuals are just as effective as those taken by clinicians. A notable example would be ‘Self-sampling for community respiratory illness: a new tool for national virological surveillance’ by Elliot et al (2015).

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department uses to assess the suitability of companies for involvement in the NHS test and trace service for covid-19; what contractual obligations those companies have; and how those obligations are monitored.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. Available options include direct award due to extreme urgency; direct award due to absence of competition or protection of exclusive rights; call off from an existing framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system; call for competition using a standard procedure with accelerated timescales and extending or modifying a contract during its term.The Department assesses the suitability of companies against information already held if they are on a Government framework contract or through direct discussions and information exchanges if they are not. Contracts are placed in line with Departmental terms and conditions which include clauses for contract management.The Department has a contract management function which supports operational contract managers within the business and the Test and Trace contracts follow the same approach.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many requests for a covid-19 test (a) in York, (b) in Yorkshire and the Humber and (c) nationally have been resubmitted for a second time as a result of the previous test not being (i) received at the household and (ii) collected at the correct time at the household.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 06 July 2020



We do not hold data in this format.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many requests for a third covid-19 test at the same property have been declined in (a) York, (b) Yorkshire and the Humber region and (c) the UK as a result of a second occurrence of (i) not being received at the household and (ii) the test not being collected at the correct time at the household.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not hold data in this format.

Schools: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of stock of home testing kits held by the Government that can be made available to schools for September 2020.

Ms Nadine Dorries: By the autumn term, schools will be provided with home testing kits that they can give directly to parents/carers or staff where they think providing one will significantly increase the likelihood of them getting tested. This work is in the early phases and we are currently scoping the number of tests kits that will be made available to schools.

Coronavirus: Screening

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 test results have been (a) lost and (b) declared void from (i) the Heathrow airport and (ii) the Twickenham rugby stadium test sites and (A) the London borough of Hounslow and (B) Greater London.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not publish data by test site. We publish data in relation to overall COVID-19 testing on a daily basis. This can be found at GOV.UK.

Coronavirus: Bradford

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many positive tests for covid-19 have been recorded in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council local authority area on each day since 1 May 2020 in (a) Pillar 1 tests and (b) Pillar 2 tests.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 16 July 2020



Public Health England publishes the combined Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 number of confirmed cases in Bradford local authority is available at the following links: https://coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/cases?areaType=ltla&areaName=Bradford https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/#category=ltlas&map=rate Local authorities and Directors of Public Health receive data on each case with postcode data.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to change the process for returning a covid-19 home test for people who (a) do not have internet access and (b) are confused by the current instructions.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assistance is available to people receiving a covid-19 home test who (a) do not have internet access to register for a test and (b) are confused by the process.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Testing is a key part of the United Kingdom’s response to COVID-19, and, following the publication of the Government’s Testing Strategy we have rapidly expanded our capacity. The Government has set up a Testing Call Centre for those who have no internet access or need advice on how to order a COVID-19 test. Calls in England and Wales can be made to the 119 line for those who have no internet access.Those with a trusted proxy, for example a friend or family member who they would be willing to share their results with, could provide their proxy’s email address and/or mobile number. Contact can be made by phoning 119 or at the following link:www.nhs.uk/coronavirus

NHS: Internet

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the number of views for the web page entitled NHS Get a coronavirus test for each day since that page was launched.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



We do not publish data specifically for visits to the ‘NHS Get a coronavirus test’ page. The ‘NHS Get a coronavirus test’ page on the National Health Service website is one part of the COVID-19 related information on the NHS website. Visits to the NHS website and the daily number of COVID-19 related visits are published online by NHS Digital at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/coronavirus/nhs-digital-tech-analyticsThe NHS website holds information on various aspects of COVID-19 on the first page of the online booking service and there is a similar start page on GOV.UK. The rest of the service is on GOV.UK. Publishing visits just to the page on the NHS website would give an incomplete picture of the service.

Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Independent Review: Sodium Valproate

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review by Baroness Cumberlege, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of the findings of that review in respect of sodium valproate.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 20 July 2020



The Department is currently considering the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review and the independent findings in respect of sodium valproate and will respond to the review and the recommendations of Baroness Cumberlege in due course.

Coronavirus: Screening

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the amount it has spent on home testing kits for covid-19 that were (a) not returned and (b) returned outside of the timeframe necessary for a test to be completed.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 22 July 2020



Testing is a key part of the United Kingdom’s response to COVID-19. 15,197,099 tests have either been processed or sent out. Information linked to the cost of tests is commercially sensitive and as such, we would not be able to release the information requested. Spending for the Department will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts, which is expected in summer 2021. We also publish other data in relation to COVID-19 testing on a daily basis. This can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Coronavirus: Screening

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the delay between data being collected at military covid-19 testing units and that data being shared with local authorities and Director of Public Health.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Holding answer received on 22 July 2020



We have interpreted the hon. Member's question as relating to the Department's Mobile Testing Units (MTUs), and therefore the response focuses on the building up of this service and sharing the results with local authorities and Directors of Public Health. These MTUs have been set up across the United Kingdom, directed locally, with several additional units held back for strategic reserve. From 2-8 July, 95.8% of test results from MTUs were returned the day after the test was taken, with 88.8% returned in under 24 hours.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of health passports as part of its covid-19 recovery strategy.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We first need to improve our understanding of the science around immunity in order to fully understand the potential of certification in the next phase of our response to this pandemic.In order to gain answers to critical questions, the United Kingdom Government is conducting some of the biggest seroprevalence surveys in the world. This includes using lab-based tests to monitor the number of people that are presenting an antibody response and how this response changes over time. The UK Government is also closely monitoring the results from clinical trials of candidate COVID-19 vaccines to determine their efficacy and the immune response they generate.